


Snippets, Fragments, and Other Things That Pirates Do

by poprockie



Series: A Step to Tomorrow [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Ace is a Heater, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon-Typical Violence, Drabble Collection, Dysfunctional Family, F/F, F/M, Families of Choice, Family Feels, Fluff, Fluff and Humor, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, LGBTQ Themes, M/M, Major Original Character(s), Mental Health Issues, Mild Language, Nakamaship, Original Character-centric, Portgas D. Ace is Not Good With Feelings, Portgas D. Ace is a Dork, Portgas D. Ace-centric, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Snippets, The Kids Are Traumatized, Unreliable Narrator, characters have feeelings, panic attacks & anxiety attacks, tags and characters to be added as we go, this will have au's at some point, updates randomly, you can make a request/suggestion but no promises on it
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-03
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:41:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,286
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27862498
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poprockie/pseuds/poprockie
Summary: A collection of pieces from the world of Living for Today, a fic expanding on Ace's journey before meeting the Whitebeard Pirates; snippets, fragments, scraps, requested pieces and places, AU's, and more.Canon and Non-Canon ficlets.
Relationships: Original Character(s) & Original Character(s), Original Character(s)/Original Character(s), Portgas D. Ace & Original Character(s), Portgas D. Ace/Original Character(s)
Series: A Step to Tomorrow [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2032621
Comments: 31
Kudos: 25





	1. Snippet: Kat's Jacket (Canon)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kat loves Quinn's jacket. Quinn misses its comfort. 
> 
> Canon.

In the interest of simplicity and not causing any unnecessary trouble, Quinn doesn’t mention- or ask, for that matter- for her jacket back immediately after everything has been settled and Ace has been found. Dragged back into their ship and away from that little patch of land named, unknown to them, Sixis. Initially, she was too overcome with relief to even mention it, Kat kept her jacket on even as he propelled them away from the island and even as they settled into the night and finally slept with calmer minds and unfearful hearts.

Ace is fed. They’re all together again as a crew, in their tiny, cramped little boat and- it could only be described as a “cuddle pile” but that description made Quinn’s eye twitch. Of course, she was much too busy trying to nod off curled into Ace’s side and with Kat’s legs tossed over her stomach to really have a leg to stand on when it came to trying to… deny that claim.

Instead, she closed her eyes, glad that Ace had finally eaten the Flame Flame Fruit because otherwise she would be a shivering mess desperate for a semblance of warmth and the Flame Flame Fruit apparently came with a built in heater. Why might this happen, you ask? When there was no problem any other night of the week before dealing with the cold?

Well, simple explanation.

Kat still had her _damn jacket._

...

...

Kat doesn’t mention it. He doesn’t need to, he doesn’t think, because, honestly, it’s obvious by the sight of him and the shifty eyed look he gets whenever Quinn approaches or looks in his direction, hand fisted in the dull black fabric and clutching it closer and closer to himself with every passing second.

Quinn’s eyes narrow.

She squints.

And she opens her mouth, watching him twitch back and look suspiciously out to sea, before closing it.

The interaction is watched closer by Ace, who is too busy stuffing his face after a couple days of starvation to say anything, but the amusement and confusion on his face is clear as day. Quinn inches closer to Kat, he clutches her jacket closer to his body. She says nothing. Takes a step back, watches his fingers relax. Takes a step forward, tension. Rinse and repeat.

Kat wants to keep her jacket.

He wants it really, _really_ badly.

“Kat-su- _ra_.”

Oh, breaking out the full-name. Both of Ace’s brows shoot up and he leans in to watch as Kat squeaks and leans away from her and-

Quinn deflates.

“...Ugh, nevermind.”

And the moments over as Quinn settles into a seat and looks away. She’s pouting. One-hundred percent. Kat’s too relieved to say anything about it and Ace is still confused on what the whole thing was even about.

(Keheh. Jokes on Kat, he has to take it off to go into the water, so when it comes time for him to dive, Quinn steals it back with a winning, triumphant grin.

She feels bad when he comes back up and sees her. Looking slightly heartbroken.

Not enough to give it back though.)

...

...

Kat keeps staring at her.

A stare.

A once over.

A dejected sigh and then once more, with even _more_ feeling.

It’s honestly starting to get kind of annoying. But Quinn is nothing if not stubborn so she pointedly looks away whenever he does it and ignores his attempts at guilting her into giving it back to him. Ignores him even when he cuddles into her and tries to duck underneath the soft, faded and old fabric to try and get a modicum of comfort from it.

“You two… good there?” 

Ace snickers, standing over the top of their sprawled forms in the bottom of the ship.

Quinn pops her lip free from her teeth. Not mentioning Kat’s elbow that’s currently digging into her side at an uncomfortable and downright painful angle. “You bet.”

It’s like that for a few days. A few days where Quinn tries to hold her ground even as she wakes up one night to find Kat sitting in the corner of the ship, arms folded over the edge of the railing, and shivering slightly. He’s pulled away from her and Ace and the subsequent warmth as he distractedly dips a hand into the sea; undoubtedly feeling the shifts of currents beneath them. “Hey…” she whispers softly, so as to not wake Ace up as well, not mentioning how it has Kat nearly jumping out of his skin in surprise, “what’s got you up?” 

She doesn’t move to comfort him, or to even sit with him, she can’t really. Ace has completely wrapped himself around her, head pressed into her stomach and breath tickling her skin, and much too heavy to move without waking him up in the process. And she’s so overcome with sleep that it’s hard to even keep her eyes open, let alone move.

Kat doesn’t mention any of it.

“Can’t sleep.” He mutters, before going back to looking out at sea. “Not… I like sleeping next to you guys but…”

He trails off, scratching his head.

His head bandana is off for once and his hair isn’t up, wild red strands and highlights of orange sitting in a mess over his shoulders. “I’not used to it.”

“Oh.” Quinn nods, because it makes sense. He’d lived so isolated for so long, it probably threw him for a loop sleeping nearby actual people for once. “I wasn’t used to it either, at first.” Is all she offers him because she doesn’t know what else to say or do. It wasn’t as if they had many options. 

She nods back into sleep and the thought that he must be cold all alone doesn’t completely solidify itself in her head, but it’s there.

...

...

They walk into the bar on Hunting in the hopes of finding directions.

And, because it had been raining so heavily that the streets had been cleared, Quinn doesn’t take a second- or, rather, doesn’t realize- to think about the response that the people would have to Kat. Or even Kat’s response to them. Because the rain doesn’t bother him, not really, so he’s rather inappropriately stuck in his tie-dye alien muscle shirt that shows off the binder beneath just enough that anyone who knew what they were looking at would figure out what it was, and, most importantly…

How much it shows off his arms.

Shows off the splashes of green and off-shades of not-human that he tries to hide with a sick mask on his face but hadn’t thought of anything else-

There’s double takes. And then triple takes.

And Quinn glares as disgruntled groups of men and women outright stare in disgust at Kat, when the bartender glares himself and says, instead: “Hey, no kids allowed!” And the excuse is just what Kat needs to nod, embarrassed and horrified and pooling with anxiety, and runs from the bar with a quiet mutter of “I’ll practice with the rain water outside” that has Ace blinking at him and then shooting deadly glares himself at everyone else.

They don’t even get what they walked in for.

And Quinn is too distracted by the image of Kat crossing his arms over himself, shoulders slumping and head bowing, in a desperate attempt to hide himself and disappear from the sight of the world to even try and push the matter of more info. It’s clear that, while Ace wants to Dine-and-Dash the place, he doesn’t want to stay there for much longer either.

Quinn steps outside the building with the intent of talking to Kat, even if she knows she’d be bad at it, when they find Kat being held up by the front of his shirt by some man and a desperate-looking woman staring up at them in a mix of abject horror and awe. So, that thought quickly gets pushed aside as they have more pressing things to think about popping up right in front of them. Ones that… only get worse as the rain drizzles on.

...

...

“Here.”

These are extraneous circumstances, she tells herself in an attempt to make it better. These are extraneous circumstances and she’s just being nice- helpful- doing the right thing- for her… for her friend? He’s a little something more. At this point. Not in a romantic sense, oh hell no, _never_ like that. But he’s… it’s hard to think of him as a friend and a peer, because he’s so much younger, and so she feels herself skip right into family and tries not to think on the seriousness of thoughts like those and the connection she’s been forming much, much too fast. Too fast for her. Because it feels like a speedrun of emotions and-

Quinn tries not to think about how much she wants to keep the jacket herself. Feeling guilty about the selfishness that curdles in the bottom of her stomach because she just wants to steal the jacket away and hide away in it herself but she-

She knows the comfort it offers Katsura. Knows the comfort that _she herself had created_ by first giving it to him when Ace went missing and he needed something to hold onto and to ground his emotions.

So she tries not to whine and complain internally as she gives it to him again after his run in with the Mime and the fact that it’s really the only option he _has_ to use to hide the fact that he’s unable to wear his binders at the moment and knows, disappointedly, that she probably won’t be able to get her jacket- _his,_ now- back after this.

“ _Thank you._ ”

He breathes, soft. Almost a whisper. And it’s so absolutely heartfelt that it leaves a disgustingly gooey feeling behind and she gives him a shaky grin that drops as soon as he turns away.

Quinn runs her hands through her hair and curses herself.

It shouldn’t matter, she tells herself, not for the first time, it _really_ shouldn’t matter. It’s just a stupid jacket and it’s not even _hers_ anymore.

This time. Quinn doesn’t ask for it back. Doesn’t try and take it back either.

And, when she panics in front of Spice’s sister- Cinnamon- she tries to clutch at her tank top to hide away and only panics further when there’s no fabric to disappear into. No jacket purposely two-sizes too big to help her hide her face and body and the tears beginning to prick her eyes-

She shudders, face red with shame and embarrassment as she wraps her arms, crossed over her face, tighter around herself and just tries to disappear into nothing while feeling so completely exposed that _all the world can see her._

“Hey,” Cinnamon’s voice is a heavenly, soft sound that holds no judgement and no pity. Just thinly veiled worry and concern that has Quinn wanting to sink into her grasp. “It’s okay. You’re okay.”

It’s not. She’s not.

But she doesn’t mention that.

“A pretty girl like you shouldn’t be crying.”

Quinn scoffs and it turns into full-blown laughter because, of all things, she didn’t expect _that._ “You really think I’m pretty?” She jokes, voice changing into a mocking lilt and a finger curled around a strand of hair that she twirls. Cinnamon grins. And, sure, it had been said as a joke, something to break up the panic-cry fest that Quinn was slowly inching into but now was slowly coming down from- she misses her jacket, she thinks sillily and avoids thoughts on herself, the world, and the damn knife that’s heavy with red. Easier thoughts, distractions help her instead. So she lets herself miss the comfort that her jacket offered and how it’d grounded her.

Trying not to think about how she’d given it up and she only had herself to blame for that.

Cin- as she prefers to be called, Quinn learns eventually- purses her lips, eyes lighter than they were before, now that Quinn is breathing a bit easier, yet still grasping her hand for a semblance of touch, smirks, “You know… I wouldn’t say it if I didn’t think it.” And Quinn snorts a little.

“You need your eyes checked,” her head tilts as she squeezes the fingers on her shoulder, “but what did you have in mind? And- what?- should I call you _love_ now?” She teases.

Cin giggles.

...

...

Quinn, it should be noted, wakes up from nightmares rather calmly.

There’s no hitching of breath or a jerk awake. There’s just a cold sweat and a spike of adrenaline as her heart beats in her chest- _fire, darkness, and she just_ ** _kept stabbing-_** and she slowly sits up and shakily, her hands are shaking but their not red so she tries not to think about them and what they’d done, runs her hands through her bangs. Noting that they feel sticky with sweat and that she now wants to take a shower and get rid of the gross feeling, even if she knows it won’t work. Not really.

Not with her skin itching and the violent biting of her lip the only thing helping to calm herself down.

She sucks in a gulp of air.

And just tries to _breathe._

Quinn’s not sure how long she ends up sitting there, listening to the steady rocking of the **_Stellar_ ** as they laid anchored to the docks of some island she doesn’t know the name of, just trying to focus on how far away from Hunting they’d gotten and tries to think of the bright-side. Of the fire that burned that place to the ground and the Mime with it, leaving nothing behind of what she’d done, most likely, and- therefore, it’s not like she even needs to think about it, because, was it even real? Did it even matter?

She twitches to glance at the hammocks as someone turns over in their sleep.

It’s Kat.

With his mouth wide open and drool dripping down his chin and…

Her jacket. Comfortably wrapped around him, black and grey swathes of fabric like a blanket to snuggle into.

Quinn smiles a little. Can’t help it, really.

And then closes her eyes and breathes a little easier.

...

...

“Quinn?”

“Yeah?”

“...If… If you want your jacket back, I can-”

“Keep it.”

“Huh?”

“Just- _Keep it._ It doesn’t matter. I can- I can get a new one.”

The beaming smile on Kat’s face almost makes the decision worth it. And Quinn wishes she had the energy to even be a little more selfish, a little more mean. She doesn’t.

(Quinn doesn’t mention that, aside from herself, that jacket was the last thing she still had from home. It was the last item that she’d kept with her. That hadn’t been destroyed or went missing in the span of time from her world to-the-next. She also doesn’t mention how great of a comfort it had given her either, something to attach herself to and hold on- to hide away in.

No, Quinn doesn’t say anything, so Kat never knows.

She just curls into the warmth of Ace’s side and closes her eyes to try and fall asleep because, even with the space offered by the **_Stellar,_ ** they’d all gotten so used to sleeping next to one another that it was hard to pull away even now and he made it _so_ easy not to argue when he himself had been the one to jump on her bed and was doing his level best of being the most perfect human-heater. Neither of them mention Kat sneaking in to curl up between them or even how Spice snorts and takes a seat on the bed, arms crossed over his chest as he nods off.)


	2. Snippet: Cloud Watching and a Kiss (Non-Canon)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ace and Quinn are bored alone in a small boat. They end up sharing a kiss. Non-Canon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set between Saigen and Gaimon's Island. Non-canon but, I mean, you can technically read it as canon if you want?

She wants to say that they figured out how to spend their time in order to be productive or, at the very least, keep their minds occupied. Unfortunately, Quinn doesn't get what she wants and so that's a big ol' no in those departments.

"That one looks like a tiger."

"Really? I would say more of an eel."

"No, see how there's spikes on it? Like claws!"

She hums.

Cloud watching has never really been a past-time she's actively employed and- from the bobbing of Ace's leg, incessant and harsh enough to rock the boat, she can safely say that he hasn't either.

God, she was bored.

"We… need a deck of cards or something. At the very least." She groans. "Boredom is such an age-old enemy." She misses her phone. And the internet. And sunscreen. And a goddamn bed-

Quinn rolls over, knocking into Ace's side, burying her face in her hands.

"Anything?"

Ace grunts, eyes flicking down to her and then back to the sky, he points. Unhelpfully, mind you. "There's a fish too."

She glances up and just as quickly reburies her face. "...That's a bowtie."

Oh, whoever told you piracy was filled with days of excitement was a damn liar. It had been ten days. Ten days of sailing around on their little ship and all she has to show for it is ocean as far as the eye can see, around them on all sides and a possible heat stroke coming on.

At least today was cooler than most. She was less sticky and stale with sweat and itchy from not having bathed in awhile, the only thing that made it manageable, and less embarrassing than it was, was the fact that Ace was in a similar sorry state. If not worse. He had bags under his eyes, she'd taken note of the fact that he slept restlessly every night and only seemed to settle once he rolled over and grabbed onto either her or his bag, needed something or someone, rather, to hold onto before he caught a wink of proper shut eye and his grey eyes were looking a little dull compared to how they normally were. It wasn't for lack of enthusiasm though, he had energy in spades, it was just clear that he was getting fed up with their situation as much as she was and the lack of food didn't help.

(Earlier that week, he'd gotten it in his head that he could just row them to the next island, and he'd managed to get them pretty frickin' far out before he dropped from exhaustion and Quinn had to shade him until night fell, lest he destroy himself beneath the burning of the sun. He tried again the next morning. And she'd let him, even chipping in here and there, but still- islands eluded them.)

"Can't believe neither of us know how to navigate…" Quinn mumbles. "I mean, me: understandable. You: weird."

"How am _I_ weird for not knowing?"

"I saw the ocean for the first time, like, two months ago. I think I can be forgiven."

That fact seems to have Ace stalled.

Sorry, Ace.exe file not found. File not found. Warning, if proceeding with this action, you risk major malfunction-

" _What?!"_

She glanced up. "Well, I lived in a city. And the ocean was pretty far away and I already didn't get the chance to go out much." Honestly, the only reason she even knew how to swim- _had_ known how to swim- was because of indoor public pools and the YMCA. "So Saigen's shoreline was the first time."

Ace sputters, so taken aback by this sudden drop of information that he can't form a proper sentence, let alone a proper thought and he's soon running his mouth in abject horror. "I can't even imagine having never seen the ocean before-"

"Well, pictures are a thing."

"-A thing that doesn't count!" He snaps, disbelief evident. "That's like never having _eaten_ before!" That's a little dramatic for her tastes but sure. "Or- Or never having run. Or never having hugged someone before. Or never-never-"

"-If you say never having a first kiss before I will so leave." By 'leave' she means roll into the other side of the ship but Ace just blinks at her, a little bemused.

He snorts a little. "Why would I say that? It's not like I've had one."

She squints at him, tilts her head and says: "Really?"

"What's with that look?"

"Well, I mean…" He stares at her as she gestures to basically all of him. "You walk around with your shirt open all the time," he looks down, "you have a belt buckle with the first letter of your name on it, which is, holy shit, the dorkiest shit ever by the way, no offense," his lips purse, "the cowboy hat is self-explanatory," but it isn't, what does that _mean_ , "and… there's the obvious."

"The obvious?!" He parrots back, not seeing it.

It's Quinn's turn to stare.

"You're _cute_."

Ace flushes, looks away. "...I'm not cute."

"Fine. Handsome." Quinn shrugs, unbothered. "It doesn't really matter. I just kinda figured."

Ace snorts.

"Not like I had many options."

"Aa, forest, isolation, only your brother. You mentioned that, didn't you?"

It's hot and his head is aching a little so he doesn't really remember if he _had_ mentioned it but, if she knows that much, he assumes that he must've. Maybe even fell asleep part way through and forgotten about it.

(He had made, at most, a couple comments on growing up in a forest and a reference to Luffy's Devil Fruit. Not enough for her to talk about it and make assumptions with the ease that she did.)

(Ace doesn't notice.)

"Yeah."

"Mnh, well. Fair, then. Unless you were going around searching for someone," yeah, no, "then I'd guess you were shit out of luck in the romance department."

Ace can't help but scoff.

He was shit out of luck anyways.

With the blood that ran through his veins, _(-and what they had done to his mother_ -) he would never wish that hell on even his enemies. The thought of even… _accidentally-_ or _potentially_ hurting someone like that- He didn't want to think about it.

"What's with the scoff? You too good for romance?" Quinn paused in her teasing. "Or are you just aro or something? Ace in more ways than one?"

"What? What does that even mean?"

"At its most basic, lacking in romantic attraction or lacking in sexual attraction-"

"I. Am not having this conversation with you."

Quinn nods. Then scratches her cheek: "...Aa. Sorry, if that made you uncomfortable. I'm just used to askin' my friends or talking with them about stuff like this, I guess." 

He dimly wonders what _sorts_ of conversations she's used to having if that was normal. He'd never even heard of those terms before.

"...It's neither."

"Huh?"

"Neither of those." He grunted. "I- I mean, it's not like I have the experience to even know, but I'm-" He struggles, embarrassment creeping into his voice, and it turns a little soft and defensive. "I like both men and women."

It's the first time he'd ever admitted it out loud. And it felt a little heavy on his tongue and he can't help but feel a little ashamed- what would she say? Damn it, this was a bad idea, the bandits would already be making fun of him, he's sure of it-

"Ooh, samesies." Quinn simply says, not even twitching and something unclenches in his stomach at the same time he turns to give her a confused look. She doesn't clarify, but, then again, she doesn't really need to. "So, no access to any cute girls or cute boys, how _did_ you survive." She deadpans, rhetoric clear within her teasing.

Ace rolls his eyes.

Grumbles, "Is it really so important?"

It gains a laugh. "Of course not. Just fun to make fun of you for, what else am I going to do?" Quinn huffs. "Besides you should only kiss someone if you want to."

They lay in silence for a long time after that. Listening to nothing but their breathing and the lull of the waves as the conversation drops and they drift back into the boring territories of hellish torture.

"So you've never seen the ocean before. And I've never kissed anyone before."

"There's a first time for everything, huh?"

" _Huh_?"

She hadn't meant to. Not really. But… looking back, it really did sound like she was offering, or just making the suggestion- so at first, not realizing how it'd come across, she flinches back in surprise as Ace's head swivels to blink at her owlishly. And she just shrugs instead of doing anything of substance.

"Are you…" He's tentative and definitely a bit pink, borderline stammering if she's being honest. "Are you offering…?"

Quinn hadn't been. Not initially.

But that look on his face was… curious. "Do you _want_ to?" She has to ask, trying to keep the incredulousness out of her voice. A brow raising.

He doesn't answer for a long, long time. And, really, that's sort of answer enough and Quinn… feels more than a little flattered actually.

(Okay, so her ego gets a little inflated. Hey! She looks absolutely terrible right now, hair tangled and covered in dirt, and he was _still_ thinking about it.)

"You can." Quinn offers blandly, because it was a yes or no question and it'd already been five minutes of watching him go back and forth in his own head. "It doesn't have to be weird."

"How are you so easy going about this?"

"Should I not be?"

Ace flounders. "I- it's- but it's me…"

"It _is_ you." Her brows raise. "And what's wrong with you?"

He doesn't say anything. Simply stares at her, sitting up, and she stares back from her laid out position at the bottom of the ship, gaze lazy as it meets his, which seems to slowly shift into one of determination. He lurches downward unexpectedly.

It's unromantic. It's sloppy. Impossibly quick and the only reason she realized it's even happened is because he'd gone too far down and had their teeth clicking against one another and the slight linger of pain on her lips where he'd probably bruised them.

It has her giggling- and then snickering- and then full-blown laughing in delight.

Ace flushes a horrendous shade of red.

Quinn beams at him, can't help it, because that- that wasn't a _kiss-_ that was him smashing his mouth against hers and hoping everything else would sort itself out by itself. It was absolutely terrible. Quinn was inclined to say it was the absolute best-worst kiss she'd ever had in her life. "Let's try that again. Let me actually sit up this time because I think you fell on me there a little." He turns an even darker red and she laughs, shoving herself up with her elbows until she can sit and actually meet him face to face. "How 'bout I lead?"

"...You sure?"

"Sure. Are you?"

It takes a minute, one where she waits patiently for a response and he tugs at the brim of his hat to hide his eyes and flaming cheeks, but he does give a short nod. Quinn's lips purse, unsatisfied with the barely there response, "Ace, are you _sure_ you want me to kiss you?"

He huffs. "I nodded didn't I?"

"I need a yes or a no."

" _Fu…_ It's a yes!" 

He snaps a little as he says it, more than a little miffed at being pushed for the embarrassing response but Quinn was sure he'd appreciate the urge for clarity later on and she wouldn't apologize for being doubly certain that he was alright with it.

Quinn slides a hand to his chin, thumb just beneath his bottom lip, her other hand going up to cup his cheek- his hands are shaking with nerves and his eyes are blown wide and unblinking, but there's enough focus that she can tell he's watching her mouth and nothing else- and then she kisses him.

It's without much fanfare. A simple, smooth motion that lingers for maybe five seconds- just enough for her to have the thought of 'huh, how does he not need chapstick yet'- before pulling away.

He stares at her blankly. Then blinks. Once. Twice. Then bites his lip and ducks his head, cheeks pink and ears burning, and Quinn can't help the small laugh that bubbles out. Though it's softer than the one before.

She pretends to not notice him lick his lips and bring a hand to touch them, eyes still a bit wide and bewildered, and she falls back into the ship- startling him out of his thoughts.

She pats the space next to her, where he'd laid before, and wants for him to fall back again. Shooting her continuous nervous glances as he did so.

She points up at the clouds.

"A platypus."

"...A _what_?"

It's a wonderful sight, watching him shake off his nerves and recline back into the relaxed state they'd managed before. Nothing about the situation has really changed, but Quinn can say honestly that she thinks they're both a little less bored of it all.

(They don't kiss again but Ace does pull her into a hug as he falls asleep and Quinn doesn't mention the fact that she spots him more than a few times running a finger over his mouth and glancing her way with a stare that lingers just shy of too long.)


	3. Scrap: All In Ace's Dreams (Non-Canon)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ace can't stop thinking about Quinn and he's panicking (or, Ace has a crush and doesn't know how to handle it. Not even a little bit.)
> 
> Non-Canon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: vaguely sexual content? Like, it's super alluded to/hella close. But nothing actually happens.
> 
> This doesn't take place at any specific time. Other than maybe?? the latter half of paradise. I wrote this over a year ago, edited out all the future crew spoilers. (this isn't what i'm usually interested in writing if you can tell)

He's a bit addled.

Not a drunken stupor- he hadn't touched a lick of alcohol in days -but it's definitely some form of intoxication.

Brown skin, scarred dibits, flesh that hides muscles that, if he presses, he can find every striation, listening for the low huff of amusement or the hissing noise that drew a tired smirk-

Black eyes flashing. Messy hair brushing against his cheeks as warm lips leaned down. So close and yet purposefully held at bay. Brushing over his own-

-he was trembling, as if frozen by winter-

(he'd never admit it)

-and tickling the corner of his mouth as her bottom, bitten lip, dragged over flushed skin.

He sucked in a deep breath.

Hands slid over his shoulder, fingers tickling, and hips gave a soft roll as they ground down and he _whimpered._

"...cute~♡!" 

The soft whisper dances across his cheek, close to his ear, and dark eyes are twinkling as they seem to roam over every inch of him. Teeth pull on her bottom lip and letting go with a small 'pop' and he shudders, his hands squeezing her hips and pulling her close. The fabric of her underwear snapping as they move.

"I'm… no-not-" He attempts, because that's all he can really bring himself to say-

-god, it feels like his breath was getting stolen-

"Ooh," delighted purring causes shivers and melts into a kiss that dances back to his lips, "but you _are_. You…"

A kiss.

"Are…"

Another.

"... _adorable_."

A thin line of saliva connects their mouths even as she pulls away and he wants to whimper again.

She chuckles and he tentatively runs his hands over her hips, the softness of her flesh doing nothing but drawing the examination of his hands over her. She's on her knees, leg on either side of him, and fingers tickle up his neck and slide over his jaw, pulling his gaze away and up to her-

Sharp eyelashes blink closed slowly, lazily.

A small tongue flashes over her mouth.

The feeling of gloriously naked skin pressed against his torso.

And the sigh that escapes her is wonderful-

"Oh, _Captain._ "

It felt like his heart would stop.

" _Captain…_ "

He was trembling.

" _Captain…_ "

He couldn't wait any longer.

"Captain…!"

He jolts awake with an unattractive snort. "Wh-Wha-?!" He winces as his elbow scrapes the deck. "The hell-?" Ace dizzily blinks, the- the dream, that's what it was, disappearing abruptly -replaced with the light of morning and the sun-

He sucks in a sharp breath.

The sun lingers on her head, streams of light breaking through her hair and surrounding her in a warm light.

Those-

(intoxicating, beautiful, amazing)

-black eyes drift over him in confusion and Quinn wrinkles her nose, biting her lip.

She lets it go with a small 'pop' and-

Unintelligently all he can think to say was, "Hurnngh." Because ho- holy shit.

(He drifts back to the dream and the feeling of her naked, pressed flush against him.)

Quinn raises a brow. "Uh-huh. Alright, Captain, breakfast is ready- has been for awhile. Surprised you didn't wake up sooner." She raises a brow. "Nightmare?"

He licks his lips. "Something like that."

She frowns and tilts her head. And the concern on her face has him feeling bad. "Hope it wasn't too bad then…"

"Nah, just about you!" 

He says before he can think and receives a kick in response. "Oh, haha. You're so funny." She rolls her eyes and marches away. Not angry but… not going to hang around much longer. "Hurry up, it'll get cold."

"Hey, Quinn-" He calls.

And she begrudgingly turns, hand on a popped hip.

He smiles. "You're pretty great, you know."

He snickers at the taken aback expression. "I-" She opens and closes her mouth. Looking like she wants to say something but can't find the words, before she snorts and shakes her head. Turning around. "I thought I was a nightmare!"

(He doesn't see her gaze soften as she looks down or the burning red that colors her ears.)

(It doesn't stop the fluttering feeling in his stomach as he follows her up the stairs with his eyes.)

"Nah… but you're a dream…"

Fuck. He was in deep.

...

...

Ace… doesn't know what to do.

Frankly, he doesn't even know how to feel, much less respond.

The first time it'd happened he'd gasped awake feeling hot, sweaty, befuddled, and outright confused. He marked it up as being a fluke because- Don't get him wrong. Quinn is certainly pretty. Hot, even. But he'd rather not think of his crewmate in that way.

Even if he thinks the way she bites her lip is cute or if he's caught his gaze lingering on her legs and hips for a couple seconds too long. The way she sits and forgoes politeness in a refusal to do what he knows she's been taught.

Or, sometimes, finds his eyes trailing down the sweat that drips down her neck as they fight. Or when she pulls up her shirt to expose her stomach and the still healing battle scars on her side as she wipes her face. Or how he can follow the beautiful bend of her legs up to her shorts that really just barely cover everything and feel himself grow warm as he licks his suddenly dry lips and-

It's a fluke. He shakes his head. It has to be.

He's a man. She's a woman- one of the first that he's met within his age range that wasn't, well, wasn't someone to steal from, or a snobby noble, or a terrified farmers daughter that wandered into the forest and left screaming -and she's a pretty good-looking one at that. So it shouldn't be all that surprising, should it?

Besides, it was just one dream.

(One glorious dream of gentle touches and warm lips and dark, gorgeous eyes.)

Except… it wasn't.

Weeks later, just as he was finally relaxing from convincing himself it was a one time thing, and a night filled with laughter as they chatted about nothing on one of her night watches that he couldn't sleep during, he stumbled back to bed and woke with her name on his lips.

Okay. So another fluke. He had just spent a lot of time alone with her. Not that surprising.

But then another happens, a few nights later, and he stumbles out of bed much earlier than most. Flames flickering over his face as he rushes to the sink and tries to splash them away. Not quite over the incredible memory of soft hands and whispers and-

(He was a tiny bit miffed that she was always in-charge. Taking control. Making his toes curl. But, also, exhilarated by the thought. Of her guiding hand and gentle praise and tickling, hot breath that made all the nerves bundled in his stomach ache a little less.)

-he struggles to fall back to sleep the next night. A guilty feeling rolling over in his gut as he lays down. Unable to keep the thoughts at bay, the memories from the day not helping.

It wasn't even as if she'd _done_ anything.

Quinn had just went around packaging up crates and barrels alongside him and bent over, the hem of her shorts riding up a little and making the tiny gap of flesh between them and her leggings a tiny bit larger. He'd glanced down, briefly, but it turned into a long, hard, look as he spotted the shadow of a curve in the half-lighting. The crease of flesh between leg and cheek that was so close to being seen and yet just out of reach as she scooted a crate into a corner.

He couldn't help but wonder how she would look completely bent over it, a smirk on her face and dark eyes flickering as she whispered sweet nothings that had him trembling and breathing her name in her ear as he-

As can be seen, his mind was in the gutter.

The dream that night was even worse than the others. Strange, because it didn't actually involve anything of where his mind had gone earlier that day. Instead, it was almost hard to discern it as a dream at all. Because it was just them, playing some card game that she was trying- and failing- to teach him. Laughter on her lips and eyes dancing with mirth as she choked on her water.

The distant sounds of the rest of the crew doing their own thing in the background, sounding close, but he never spotted a single one of them. Not Spice, not Kat, not even any of the others who he knew should've been running around.

Just her.

Just Quinn as she laid her hand on top of his and smiled, eyes crinkling, as she went over the rules again. Tucking hair behind her ear as three little words threatened to reveal themselves, until he was, once again, throwing himself into the bathroom. Tossing water on his face. And gripping the counter like a lifeline as those three words faded from his tongue.

It was- It was just a fluke. He tells himself and has a harder and harder time trying to believe it. It was all just a fluke.

And yet, dreams like those, and dreams like the rest, persisted.

Until Ace was pretty sure that he knew more about the curves and muscles of fantasy-Quinn than he did the real one.

"Aa-!"

He hadn't been paying much attention one day. They're out on deck and Quinn has, once again, wrangled him into another dance without music and just the crashing waves to guide their steps. She's leaning her head against his shoulder, forehead pressed against the crux of his neck, and her breath tickling his collar. It's, admittedly, not a new position but- suddenly, Ace is startling aware of everything... everything _her_.

Fuck.

"You're... warm..."

A shiver runs up his spine.

Her lips tantalizing close to his skin, so close that he can feel them shivering over him, and he can just imagine the furrow of her brow and the tension draining from her shoulders as she eases deeper into his hold. For a moment, he has to wonder whether or not he's caught in another dream. "Ace- you okay? You heated up all of a sudden..." Her head twitches up and he catches the dark glance his way before he's looking away.

"Y-Yeah, I'm- I'm just fine."

And, well, the fact that he was trying a little too hard to will the sudden rush of heat away from his body parts was probably telling. It certainly doesn't help that all she reacts with his a mumbled sound and sleepily sinks further into his arms. Impossibly soft and addictive.

(It wasn't anything like his dreams because this was... This was real. And so, so much better than anything he could've come up with deep within his subconscious. If he wasn't so distracted hiding other matters he would've enjoyed the embrace and the slight, tired slump of her against him.)

He's pretty sure he's going insane.

And Ace just... doesn't know what to do or how to feel and it's just been getting worse and worse as the days go by.

He pointedly ignores all the raised brows that the crew sends him and the, quite frankly, judgmental look he's getting from Kat and the teasing 'ooooooh?' that rings out from behind him. They're enjoying the sight of him so thoroughly flustered. "What?" He snaps and watches as they all grin, looking like sharks who'd smelled a whiff of blood.

"It seems like _someone_ has the Captain's eye captured!"

He flushes bright red and shakes his head. "No way." They laugh. Not believing him for even a second. "I didn't!"

"Hmmm? So if we get Quinn and tell her that you have a crush on her you won't-"

"No!"

The laughter only grows. "So what is it? What is it?"

"I always knew you had a thing for her but it's just been getting worse- I didn't think that was possible!"

"I didn't-"

He sputters.

No one believes him. They probably shouldn't. But that didn't mean he had to like it.

"So- So what is it? What finally caught your eye and made you realize-?"

He's hunched over, curled in on himself as best he can considering the table in the way. Red faced still and clutching his cup and staring into the liquid inside, hoping that it might distract him from this entire conversation. "...It's nothing."

"C'mon, tell us, tell us! We won't tell anybody!"

He opens and closes his mouth, covering it with his hand, like he's trying to keep all his secrets from spilling. And spots Quinn through the galley window, his gaze softens. She's far away, out on deck, elbows on the railing as she looks out to sea, a soft smile on her face as she watches the waves and the horizon. "She's... amazing. She's beautiful. I don't know what else to say." He breathes slowly. "...She's just... I don't deserve her." He shakes his head and looks back up at his crew. "What?"

They're gawking.

"What?!"

It gains a sniff.

Ace blinks, bewildered.

"Oh, Ace..." he whips around at the soft voice as his most recent crew member pulls her pipe from her lips, smile on her face, "you love her."

"Wha... no, no- that's- I-" His tongue tangles and he can't really find it in himself to deny it, just whips back around, unable to tear his gaze away from the sunset colors outside the window. "I can't..."

An arm slings over his shoulder. "C'mon, Ace, don't worry! You got this!"

He ducks his head, cheeks puffing.

"Get that girl!"

"Yeah, yeah!"

"Oh- no, no, no, no, no." He shakes his head. "She could do so much better. I'm not going to drag her down-"

"What are you talking about? You would be perfect together- tell her!"

"No-!"

...

...

He startles awake once again and does nothing but groan, already used to the sudden abrupt awakenings and clasped his hands over his face.

"Damn it... _Quinn.._."

He rubbed his eyes.

Oh, he's never going to live this down because- because-

Boy. Is Ace stuck in deep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Kat in the bg: now, you may be good enough to be my captain but are you good enough... for my sister?
> 
> Ace, just trying not to freak out: *sweating*


	4. Snippet: To Make A Kat A Poke Bowl (Canon)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Quinn and Spice cook Fishman Island Cuisine (Poke Bowl) for Katsura.
> 
> Canon. Requested by PolitePoltergast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Set between Interlude I and Reverse Mountain I, chapters 16 and 18 respectively.

"Watch yourself."

Oh, Quinn can't help it. She really can't. " _'Watch yourself.'_ " She mocks back, voice dropping to imitate his. "You're the one walking into me. Just walk around."

Okay, so- maybe it's a bad idea to antagonize Spice when he's carrying a dead fish because she is ninety-nine percent sure that slapping her with the thing is passing through his mind right this second, but- well. There's more than enough floor space between the counter and bar for him to step to the side and walk around where she's handling the vegetables so she _knows_ he's only doing it to be a prick.

"...I can kick you out of my kitchen."

"Oh, yes. Right into the living room that's so _very f_ ar away."

It's maybe a two step jump to get to the rest of their living space. And no wall to even separate them.

Spice blows a raspberry at her. "You're lucky that I would feel bad hitting you with the fish."

"Well, at least that's something…"

"Oh no, not for you. For the fish."

Like a child. She sticks her tongue out at him.

That said, Quinn can't help but find it a little awkward to be in the kitchenette area, even though she's the one that insisted on it- it was just… it was Spice's kitchen. Very much his territory. And, as much as she was encroaching on it to be helpful, it still felt a little like she was taking a step into the wilderness, only to discover a tiger staring her down.

She sighs, pulling the vegetables from the sink and lining them up on the cutting board.

This is what she gets for wanting to help, it was just- like she'd promised, she'd started to compile a collection of recipes that Katsura recognized or described from his childhood. It'd taken awhile and, even between her and Spice both putting their heads together, one with actual intelligence and learned knowledge and her with what she recalled from google, there had only been a small selection they'd been able to put together.

The most notable thing she was able to glean from the information provided though-? Fishman Island seemed to be rather Hawaiian-inspired.

Less surprising the more she thought about it.

But, at least with that, it gave them a good framework to work with.

"What're these called again?"

"This is tako poke."

"Poke Bowls, right."

Spice makes a disgruntled noise at her.

It's an overall, simple enough dish to understand. Diced raw fish, vegetables, rice and a few other things is what Quinn's mind had immediately simplified it down to. Even though Spice had looked mildly offended when she said it out loud- "Oh. And a hamburger is just a sandwich."

Her head tilts, exasperated. "That's… not even close to what I was saying." She pauses then adds: "And, I mean, technically you could argue that it's a sandwich."

"Get out of my kitchen."

"No."

After that, Quinn was designated to washing the vegetables, cutting them, and organizing everything so it would be easy to pick up in the correct order. A "simple job for a simple person" is what Spice had said and she'd wondered if Ace would let her get away with stabbing their newest crewmate.

...Probably not.

Maybe.

Who knows.

They work in silence from there. Or, they would be, if Spice wasn't quietly muttering under his breath. "...the fusion of raw fish and vegetables' flavors can be brought out with a mildly spicy sauce- as is Ace's preference for spicy foods. Soy, toasted sesame, and chilli flavors will help to emphasize the combination of foods and the addition of lemon juice will enhance the spice and be more palatable…"

Oh, right. Sauces. Quinn forgot about those. She's more of a toss-pepper-and-salt-on-something-until-it-tastes-good kinda person.

...There was probably a good reason why she wasn't a chef.

"...perhaps garlic and ginger?"

Quinn smiles, slicing through the carrots in a way that she's sure Spice would call amateurish. In fact, by the time she's finished that and was moving onto the next, Spice had gutted, cleaned, and cubed the entire fish Ace had caught earlier that day and was moving onto something else. There was an incredible ease there and she had to say, it was rather nice watching him work; oddly graceful and had an almost addictive quality to it. It reminded her of all those cooking shows and cooking videos that people made- only without any of the drama or confusion or stress.

The sound of chopping fills the kitchen, alongside the distant laughter and conversation of Kat and Ace challenging each other to some competition or other. Thankfully, they'd learned to keep it to the ship now- after the Sixis… Incident.

"Hm, not too bad." Spice leant over her shoulder. "A bit slow and unpracticed, but you're pretty good with a knife. You must be pretty used to handling them."

"For an amateur?" She teases back.

"No, you're just pretty good."

"... _Oh_."

Well, shit. She flushes, ducking back down and pulling the next selection of vegetables onto the chopping block.

She wasn't expecting that.

He huffs, eyeing her with a smirk slowly sliding across his face, "You can't take compliments, can you?"

"What? No!"

"Hm, then why is it that, immediately after I complimented you, you start doing worse?"

"I'm not…" She falters and focuses back, "Shoo, you're bothering me."

There isn't anything special that happens- either between them or as a result of cooking together but it's… nice. It's cozy. And, as Quinn finishes her portion of work and Spice prepares the last bit with a finesse that completely eludes her and they present it to Katsura- it's a surprise. Because they made sure to keep what they were doing a secret with Ace acting as a distraction- both preen under his joyful gaze as he takes a bite and shouts- "It's just like what I used to eat!" -it's hard not to feel a sense of closeness.

Oh, they may poke fun, and argue, and even dislike how the other does things sometimes-

But, at the end of the day, it would be hard for either of them to really dislike each other.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, oof. So there's a lot of friction between Quinn and Spice (chapter 19) right now, so this kinda serves as a break from that but also-! Don't worry :[ They're not actually hating on each other. They just have their differences and they're trying to solve them!  
> (I had someone on ff.net interpret it as them, like, actually hating each other and I just want to make it clear that they're not! They're just trying to figure each other out, miscommunicating, and aren't sure how to talk to each other.)  
> Anyways- this Snippet was requested by PolitePoltergast, who always leaves such awesome reviews and has a lot of cute ideas and head-canons that I just love (like Fishman Island cuisine being Hawaiian inspired!) It took me a bit long to write because I wasn't really sure how to end it, but this was fun :D  
> Hope you enjoyed!  
> (Forgive me for any food mistakes! It's not my forte!)


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